Crib Point

Crib Point is a small residential village on the Mornington Peninsula's Western Port coast between Hastings and Stony Point, 80 km from Melbourne, with a station on the Stony Point train line and Woolleys Beach on the foreshore.

Crib Point sits halfway between Hastings and Stony Point on the Western Port shoreline, a small village built around a navy history that quietly defined it for most of the twentieth century - HMAS Cerberus is its southern neighbour and the largest naval base in the country. The village is residential, with a station on the Stony Point train line and a few low-key streets that lead down to Woolleys Beach, a small shaded swimming pocket that locals know about and almost no visitors do. The Western Port coast here is mangrove and mudflat country, and walking south along the foreshore toward Stony Point at low tide is one of the better long, flat coastal walks on the Peninsula. Come here for the walks and the train; stay in Hastings for the meal.

The walking village between Hastings and the Stony Point ferry - quiet, mangrove-edged, train-accessible.

Peninsula Insider - editor's note

Is Crib Point the right base?

Who this place rewards - and who should keep driving

It's for

walkers
carless day trippers
ferry connectors

It's not for

anyone wanting a polished village
people who hate mudflats

Looking for a meal - eat in Hastings and walk in Crib Point.

Crib Point in brief

Crib Point in 5 points

01 Crib Point is the small residential village between Hastings and Stony Point - Woolleys Beach, a train station and a long foreshore walk toward the ferry.
02 Best for: walkers; carless travellers; people building the Western Port loop properly.
03 Signature experience: low-tide walk south along the foreshore toward Stony Point, ferry on, train back.
04 Half a day; pair with Hastings or Stony Point for a full day.
05 There is little to eat in the village - provision in Hastings.

A perfect day here

A day in Crib Point

Train to Crib Point from Frankston, low-tide foreshore walk south to Stony Point, ferry to French Island or back, train home.

The Stony Point line is the only train that runs onto the Peninsula's Western Port side - Crib Point is the quietest stop with the best foreshore access.
- Editor's note

3-Day Peninsula Itinerary → Weekend Plans → Best Brunch Guide → Hot Springs Guide → Winter Guide → Dog-Friendly Peninsula →

Where it sits

Crib Point on the Peninsula

See the full Peninsula map →

Western Port · village

Bittern

Bittern is a small Western-Port village named for the marsh bird that still nests in the coastal wetlands at its edge, and it has a thoroughly ordinary main street that conceals one of the most birdable shorelines on the Peninsula. The Bittern Coastal Wetlands - saltmarsh, mudflats, mangroves - are one of the least-promoted nature reserves in the region and one of the best places in Victoria to watch wading birds at low tide. The village itself is residential, with a station on the Stony Point train line and a general store. Bittern matters mostly as a stopping point: a wetland walk in the morning, a coffee on the main street, then drive south to Hastings or onward to Crib Point. There is little reason to stay here, every reason to stop for an hour or two if birds and quiet shorelines interest you.

Western Port · town

Hastings

Hastings sits on the eastern, working side of the Peninsula - the Western Port side, with its mangroves, mudflats, and fishing fleet. It is not a tourist town and never has tried to be, which is exactly what makes it useful. The fishermen's co-op here supplies some of the best seafood in Melbourne, the mussel farms offshore are among the largest sustainable producers in Australia, and if you are driving back from French Island or heading down to Flinders the long way round, Hastings is the place to stop for fish and chips eaten on the pier. The town itself is unvarnished in a way the western Peninsula no longer is, and that counts for something.

Western Port · village

Stony Point

Stony Point is the smallest possible village - a jetty, a ferry terminal, a railway terminus, a fishermen's hut or two - and one of the most useful addresses on the Peninsula. The ferry from the jetty runs across Western Port to French Island and on to Cowes on Phillip Island, which makes Stony Point one of the few places on mainland Victoria you can step off a train and onto a boat. There is no town to wander - the village is barely a village - but the working pier is a real fishing community and the views across to French Island catch the afternoon light beautifully. Park here, walk the jetty, take the ferry, or just sit on the pier with fish and chips brought down from Hastings. Stony Point is a transit point that rewards being treated as a destination for a few hours.

← Explore more Peninsula destinations

Something wrong on this page, or is this your business? Tell us what to fix and you get a case reference back. corrections@peninsulainsider.com.au reaches the same desk.

Loading map…

On the calendar in this place

Events in Crib Point

Coming up in Crib Point, pulled from the events registry.

All events →

Monthly
Crib Point Community Market
Crib Point
Indoor and outdoor community market at Crib Point Community House on the second Saturday of the month, 9am to 1pm. Expect produce, plants, food and a children's treasure hunt.
Markets

Crib Point